Seal for bags



Dec. 17, 1968 H. H. IMAMURA 3,416,199

SEAL FOR BAGS Filed June 10, 1965- I NVEN TOR.

HARRY H. mm MURA United States Patent 3,416,199 SEAL FOR BAGS Harry H. Imamura, Seattle, Wash, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Minigrip, Inc., Orangeburg, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 10, 1965, Ser. No. 462,918 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-201) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A seal for releasably closing an open end of a plastic bag. The seal includes elongated male and female elements formed along adjacent surfaces of the open end of the bag. The two elements may be pressed into engaging relation with one another along the lengths thereof to close the open end of the bag and then may be pulled apart to disengage the two elements to again open the end of the bag.

My invention is directed toward plastic seals for plastic bags.

It is an object of my invention to provide a new and improved plastic seal for plastic bags which is reusable and which can be made water-tight.

Another object is to provide a new and improved plastic seal of the character indicated which utilizes specially shaped elongated male and female elements cooperating with each other.

Still another object is to provide a new and improved plastic seal of the character indicated that can be quickly and easily sealed or opened.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of my invention will now be explained with reference both to this specification and to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of my invention with the seal in open position;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view thereof with the seal in closed position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another form of my invention with the seal in open position;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the seal of FIG. 3 illustrating how the seal it improperly handled cannot be opened;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the seal of FIG. 3 illustrating how the seal if properly handled can be opened easily; and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the seal of FIG. 3 illustrating proper closure thereof.

Referring now to FIGS. -1 and 2, there is shown a plastic bag having a mouth with two opposite sides 10 and 12. The inner surface of side 10 carries a horizontal elongated female element 14 having upper and lower horizontally extending walls 16 and 18 lying in horizontal planes, the upper wall 16 having a downward turned lip 20, the lower wall 18 having an upwardly turned lip 22. Lip 20 has a rounded edge pointing downward and inward along an incline toward side 10; lip 22 has a sharp edge pointing upward and inward on an incline toward side 10. A horizontal slot is formed between walls 16 and 18. A thin elongated horizontally extending partition 26 lying in a horizontal plane is positioned within the slot and divides same into upper and lower horizontal sections 24 and 28.

The inner surface of side 12 carries a horizontally extending elongated male member 30 which in cross section carries upper and lower horizontal grooves 32 and 34 respectively engageable with and disengageable from corresponding lips 20 and 22. The curved tip 36 of member 30 carries a horizontal groove 38 engageable with and 3,416,199 Patented Dec. 17, 1968 disengageable from partition 26. The depth of groove 38 exceeds the extension of partition 26 whereby when the seal is closed, partition 26 fits into groove 38 but does not penetrate the entire depth thereof, lip 20 engages groove 32 and lip 22 engages groove 34, to form a water-tight seal. Upper slot section 24 carries a small horizontal subgroove 40 which permits wall 16 to be pivoted by manual action away from partition 26 to permit lip 20 to be moved out of groove 32 for opening the seal and separating the male and female elements. Walls 16 and 18 and partition 26 are integral with a horizontally extending base 42 in a vertical plane.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-6, one side 10 of a plastic bag on its inner surface is provided with a horizontal elongated female element 50 having an upper wall 52 extending horizontally in a downwardly inclined plane and terminating in a lip 54 having a downwardly extending rounded vertical edge and a spaced apart lower wall 58 extending horizontally in an upwardly inclined plane and terminating in a lip 60 having a pointed edge extending upward on an incline pointed toward side 10. Walls 52 and 58 are integral with a horizontally extending base 64 lying in a vertical plane whereby a horizontal slot 66 having in cross section the shape of a trapezoid is formed between walls 52 and 58. The base 64 carries on that surface which defines part of the slot a shallow horizontal sub-groove 40.

The opposite side 12 of the bag carries on its inner surface a horizontally extending male element 74 having in cross section'the general shape of an arrowhead having a rounded tip 76 and oppositely disposed upper and lower shoulders 68 and 70 respectively engageable with and disengageable from lips 54 and 60 and having shapes conforming to corresponding edges.

When the male element is sealed in the female element, the seal cannot be opened by exerting a horizontal pull on the male element as shown in FIG. 4, due to the locking action of shoulder 68 and lip 60 and its edge. The typical seated or closed position is shown in FIG. 6.

In order to open the seal easily, sub-groove 40 permits the upper wall 52 to be pivoted upward away from wall 58 to release the upper shoulder from lip 54, whereby shoulder 68 is unlocked from lip 60 and its edge and the male element can be readily separated from the female element as shown in FIG. 5.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the drawings, my protection is to be limited only by the terms of the claims which follow.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A seal for engaging and disengaging two sides of a ,plastic bag comprising:

a horizontally extending female element on one surface of one side and a horizontaly extending male element on an adjacent surface of the other side,

said female element having upper and lower horizontally extending walls with inturned lips formed at adj acent ends thereof and a vertical connecting wall forming a horizontal slot having an open side opposite said vertical wall,

means forming a uniformly-shaped horizontal partition having spaced parallel top and bottom walls and extending from said vertical wall into said slot to divide said slot into upper and lower slot sections,

means forming a subgroove in said vertical wall between said partition and said upper horizontally extending wall,

said male element having a tip portion insertable into said slot through the open side thereof,

means forming a horizontal groove in said tip portion shaped complementarily to said partition for receiving same when the top portion is inserted into said 3 4 slot, and means forming recesses in saidmale element 2,780,261 I 2/1957 Svec. for receiving the inturned lips formed on the female 3,038,225 6/1961 Ausnit. element when the two elements are arranged in en- 3,198,228 8/1965 Naito. gaged relation. I 2. The seal as defined in claim 1 wherein the partition 5 FOREIGN PATENTS is inserted into the horizontal groove a distance less than 706,084 3/ 1965 Canadah the depth of the groove to provide a space between the 1,106,141 12/1955 France" ends of the partition and the groove in the engaged posi- 1,041,436 10/1958 Y- tion of the male and female elements. 915,390 1/1953 Great 3W- 10 943,668 12/1963 Great Britaln.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,338,285 8/1967 Jaster. 150-3 BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

